Second Chances
by CrystalSkywalker
Summary: He knew that he must burn all evidence for the secrecy of his kind.As he heard hissing he ran up the stairs and out of the house pausing only to throw a lighted match through the smashed window. The sound of the explosion rocked the night. OC, canon 1stML
1. Part 1 Prolouge Murders

**A/N Hi, this is my first moonlight fan fiction. The idea for this story has floated around on my head for a while now and finally I have formulated into a story. The idea circles around the concept of have having a permanent teenage character. Though the prologue takes place way before the tv series, the rest of the story will take place through out the first season with all of the major events and a few added. It will then continue on through what I thought the second season would be and beyond. I will try to update regularly and will keep CANNON other than the new character who is my own. Also, I will be adding a back story that involves some very famous vampire rulers. It will have three parts; prologue, season one, and season two. After I finish those I will decide if I should write a sequel. I will try to post as often as possible most likely this will mean once a week. Thanks so much for reading, enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: Moonlight is Owned by CBS and Warner Brothers.**

**Part one – chapter one - **

**Prologue (the murders)**

October 31, 1993 – Anaheim, California

Humming to herself and coloring pretty pictures out of a coloring book she had received for Halloween a toddler avoided her bed time. Oh yes, her mother had told her to get ready for bed but she had just gotten distracted. The coloring book from Mrs. Arondale next door had just been too tempting! There were all kinds of pictures to color; witches, ghosts, goblins and gouls, a smiling fiend with two pointy teeth, and bats and spiders.

Of course her procrastination had to do with justice too. To her it didn't matter that her brother was ten years older than she was, he got to stay up so she should too!

Currently, she was working on coloring a picture of the scary man. He was the scariest of all, he had two teeth that were long and pointy, slept in a box, drank little girls blood, and worst of all, could turn into a bat.

She was so busy putting finishing touches on her masterpiece that she never heard the door open and her mother walk in. she did not know that her carefully planned cover had just been blown.

Her mother walked in hands on her hips and jaw set. Oh no, this was not working for her. She thought she had strictly told her to get ready for bed. The sight of the disobedient three year old still in her witch costume, not pajamas, and her honey colored pig-tails still in was infuriating to her! She sighed, it was time to make her presence known.

"Ariana Michelle Richards! I thought I told you it was time for bed! Bed means pajamas and sleep, not coloring!" she exclaimed. Upon hearing her mothers angry voice the little girl froze like a deer caught in headlights, busted!

She calmly dropped her crayon and turned around to face her mother and prepared to _beg_ to stay up.

" but mommy!" she whined.

" Jason gets to stay up and I want to too!" this had to work, her mother had to see her side too!

" no means no!" her mother firmly stated. Then she proceeded to help her little daughter change out of her costume and into her pajamas. When she was all ready the mother proceeded to tuck her child into bed.

As the little girl slid between the cool covers the mother smiled and then gave her a quick kiss and hug she said a traditional,

" I love you sweetie" and then turned to walk out of the room and flick off the lights. She headed downstairs .

Ariana laid in bed and hugged her teddy bear. Her thoughts drifted to the over flowing pillow case of sugary goodness waiting for her downstairs and waited to be whisked off to the land of dreams. Her innocent eyes closed and she started to drift.

Suddenly she heard a loud crash and a blood curdling scream. Her eyes snapped open, now filling to the brim with fear and tears. Her door busted open and her older brother ran in, he dragged her out of her warm cozy bed and shoved her in the closet.

" stay here! It should be safe, some one just broke in , I am going to help dad." He said to her. The girl heard another scream and winced. She didn't need telling twice, she scrambled to the back of the vented door closet away from the light of the hall. He ran down the stairs, BB gun in hand to face the unknown. She knew he would win, he was a champion video game player so this robber would be a piece of cake for him!

Suddenly , all of the crashes from downstairs ceased and it was ghostly quiet. Her little heart started to pound, _no noise was good right? that meant they got him_ she hoped. She just knew any minute her brother would be up to get her. The stairs started to creak. She knew that meant someone was coming up stairs.

In the dead silence of the house footsteps started to thump through the halls. They got closer, and closer to her room. Then they were right behind her door. Her door slowly creaked open. She let out a silent, sob of fear; she now could see the visitor and it wasn't any of her family members.

He sniffed the air and let out a dark chuckle. " hm, hm,hm. It looks like there is one more after all. Well, I am still thirsty so it works out for the better I suppose." Those words brought up a recent memory, a picture in her coloring book, the scary man. Could it be that this man was like him. She thought so.

He glided across the floor, not bothering to step heavily, that tactic had obviously not worked or his prey wouldn't be hiding still. And looked into the closet. With his heightened senses he could see right into the dark space and into the little girls eyes.

She backed as far back into the corner as she could. Accidentally in her haste she cut her hand on a toy and gasped in pain. The attacker that was looking in on her changed right before her eyes. His eyes whitened over until the irises were nothing but black specks and he grew long fangs. He wrenched open the closet door and roughly grabbed her arm. She squirmed, trying to break free, but he wouldn't let go.

She stopped squirming because she knew it was no use and she watched as he brought his sharp fangs toward her and bit down, hard. She screamed and he put his other hand over her mouth. Between the lack of air and harsh tugging sensation in her arm she started to pass out.

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The monster was enjoying his victorious meal and did not notice the figure in the corner. The man in the corner knew this was his only chance so he attacked. Instantly the robber dropped the girl and spun around to defend himself, looking half crazed vamped out blood soaked.

The fight was on, fists collided with fists. Heads smacked each other. And feet induced a flurry of kicks. The newbie snapped the child attackers neck and then put his foot over his chest to hold him down. Then he staked him through the heart.

A look of pain and surprise froze on the staked vampire's face as its paralyzing effects took hold.

The little girl's hero walked over to where the little girl had been thrown into a heap and kneeled down beside her. He gently straightened her out and then checked to make sure she was ok. In the distance he heard cop cars and knew it was time to go. He picked her up and then turned to leave. As an after thought he grabbed the stuffed bear on her bed and then ran her down the stairs at vamp speed.

He stopped in the basement and popped a gas pipe that was an important line. He knew that he must burn all evidence for the secrecy of his kind. Then as he heard hissing he ran up the stairs and out of the house pausing only to throw a lighted match through the smashed window. The sound of the explosion rocked the night.

With the teddy-bear in one hand, and wounded orphan in the other, he raced off into the cool fall night leaving the CSI team baffled at another unexplained mystery…


	2. ignorance is bliss

**A/N Hi every one! Thank you so much for reading my first chapter! After much debate and typing and re-typing, I finally have come up with the true start to the story. The past fourteen years will appear some what in the dreams/memories of characters. Any way, thanks for all of the reviews! I am so sorry about the long wait, I was in the process of applying for job and bringing up my chemistry grade. I promise to try to write more. And now on to the story!**

Los Angeles, California – 2007

Halloween

Ari woke with a start, gasping for air and drenched in cool sweat. She sat bolt upright in bead and ripped off her covers. A nightmare had terrorized her, the one she had been trying to suppress four nearly fourteen years.

She forced her self to take deep, breaths and calm down. Turning to her nightstand she looked at her alarm clock, the bright red digital numbers read 3:00 AM.

Groaning at the fact that it was so early still she turned to the bulletin board that hung over her desk, on it hung a calendar and according to it, the date was October 31, 2007. So that meant that today was the actual fourteenth year mark.

Well, at least that gave Ari an explanation to why she was dreaming of that dreadful night, the night her family was brutally murdered.

She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed, great, now she would be fighting tears all day. Rebelliously, she wiped away the tears that fell down her face.

It was a Wednesday, meaning she still had school. She did not think she would be able to go back to sleep even if she wanted to so she climbed out of bed.

Because it was Halloween, everyone at her school would be dressed up. Dress code rules were bound to be broken, and no one would possibly care.

This is why she felt no remorse in wearing clothing that didn't follow dress code. Her choice in clothing were an extremely holey pair of skinny jeans, and slightly ripped Fall Out Boy t-shirt. She slipped on a pair of Vans and grabbed her back-pack and headed downstairs.

When she walked into the kitchen and set her backpack on the chair, it was no surprise to her that her older brother Mick's office light was on, he was always working late.

she thought it was a little odd, but hey, if that was what he preferred then so be it. Of course, Mick wasn't truly her older brother, Jason was.

Jason however, no longer was in her life, and so it was just easier to define her relationship to Mick as Big brother/ little sister.

Mick was though, the very best big brother she ever could have asked for. He kept her safe, happy, and well, as cheesy as it sounds, feeling loved.

Yeah, she knew something was not quite right about him, he never ate dinner with her, he worked way late shifts, and hated to go outside. But frankly, she didn't care.

She had better things to do than figure out a mystery that she may or may not ever be able to solve.

She had a much harder job, suppressing the terrifying memories that kept coming back, and when they do come back, keeping her self from braking down in front of everyone.

She worked very hard to keep up a tough girl façade. Only a few people knew the real her, the true story. One of which, Alex was her best friend. He was always there for her and they had been best friends since they were three years old.

The memory of their first meeting still stood out in her mind as one of the only happy memories of the time.

_It was only a week since Halloween 1993, Ari and Mick had gone to visit Josef._

_They stood in a large open room in his house, on one side stood Mick with Ari hiding behind and on the other stood Josef's secretary with her own three year old son standing beside her. Josef stood near the middle._

"_come on out Pig-tails, he doesn't bite. He just wants to play" Josef said to Ari trying to get her to make friends with Alex._

"_Careful with your choice of words Josef, she is still scared and I don't want to upset her." Mick said. Ari absentmindedly played with the bandage around her arm that hid her "dog" bite._

"_come watch my movie with me!" said Alex as he boldly stepped out from behind his mother's legs._

_Timidly, Ari stepped out of her own hiding space and shyly approached the little boy._

"_w-what m-movie are w-we going to watch?" she asked, her voice wavering with apparent nervousness._

" The Land Before Time _I lust got it yesterday! I want to watch it with you!" he explained, his excitement obvious. _

"_ok" she said and then the two children ran off to watch the brand new VHS already on their way to becoming inseparable best friends. _

Ari snapped out of her memories when she realized she had grabbed a cereal box and poured some in a bowl but had missed the bowl with the milk.

The alarmingly icy milk spilled all over her other hand. " Crap!" she exclaimed and reached for the paper towels.

"are you alright?" Mick yelled from his office.

"yeah I am fine" she answered.

Swearing under her breath she continued to wipe up the mess she had made. Tossing the dirty paper towels in the trash, she grabbed her bowl and a spoon and then headed over to the kitchen table to eat.

After eating she sat down and watched some TV to pass the three and a half hours until she had to go to school. Nothing good was really on when she flipped through the channels, only Halloween stuff which she made a point to stubbornly avoid.

She flipped and flipped until she came to the first _Underworld_ movie. She shuddered, vampire movies brought up to many memories that she put way to much energy into locking up_._

_She stopped squirming because she knew it was no use and she watched as he brought his sharp fangs toward her and bit down, hard. She screamed and he put his other hand over her mouth. Between the lack of air and harsh tugging sensation in her arm she started to pass out._

" aaahhh!" she exclaimed and blinked furiously as she tried to block the evil memory that threatened to completely break loose.

She turned the TV off quickly and tossed the switcher to the other side of the couch. Sliding backwards, away from the TV like it was a venomous snake.

Old fears crept through her and her heart raced. She curled up into a ball on the couch and willed her self to calm down. _It was just a nightmare, not real _she lied to her self.

This time Mick actually came out to check on her .

"Ari! What is wrong?" he asked as he walked out to the living room were she was sitting.

"Nothing" Ari answered through clenched teeth. He gave her the look that says I-know-your-lying, she still didn't know how he could tell. Oh well, another mystery she will never figure out.

"I know your lying, what scared you?"

"alright fine, I had a nightmare and it still haunts me. Are you happy now?"

"do you want to talk about it?"

"not really, no."

Mick then looked over at the clock, 6:30 was the time it read.

"shouldn't you head to school?"

"yeah, I guess I will, see you tonight." Ari said as she tried to get away.

"not so fast, you are going to hang out with Alex tonight and have fun" he commanded. Of course he knew she would try to escape, every Halloween it was the same thing. she just did not like Halloween.

"ok, I will" she said as she rolled her eyes. She walked over to the door and grabbed her helmet, keys, and back pack. She did not have a car to get to school, she had a sleek blue motorcycle.

The motor cycle was her 16th birthday present. It was from Josef. Of course, Mick did not exactly approve of it , but he didn't make her give it or anything that came with it back.

The drive to her school was very short, soon she was pulling in to her favorite parking space, Alex was standing there waiting for her. She got off her bike and took her helmet off.

" hey, ready for tonight?" he asked her as he approached.

"heck yes! What are we watching this time?" she asked with fake enthusiasm. Every year it was the same routine, scary movies and junk food.

" we are watching a new movie this year, well not exactly new it came out in 1931, and stars Bela Lugosi."

"huh, that actors name sounds sort of familiar. I just cant place it, What movie is he in?"

"oh no, this year it is my turn to pick, and choose to make it a surprise" he said forcefully.

"so, I'm not allowed to look it up on Wikipedia at lunch?" she asked innocently. Of course, that was her plan. Halloween movies were risky to her. She wanted to make sure that this was ok for her to watch.

"no, this is a surprise and I want it to stay that way."

"fine, I will see you at sixth period."

"ok cant wait!" he exclaimed, and then left. Unfortunately, they only had the last class together.

School went by quickly for Ari, and soon it was lunch. She respected Alex completely and hated to cross him, but some times, the worst had to be done.

She crept into the library and sat down at one of the computer stations, the machine was already running so she just keyed her password in. she looked around her, to make sure her best friend was not in the library, for she did not want him to be mad at her.

She typed in Wikipedia's address and waited for it to pop up. Unfortunately, a big red window popped up. ACCESS DENIED it flashed way to bright.

" I'm sorry, the school board decided to block all Wikis." The librarian called from her desk. Perfect, now it truly will be a surprise. She hit her head on the desk in frustration as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

The rest of the day whizzed by and soon she was heading out to the parking lot with Alex. The both got in or in Ari's case on their vehicles and headed to his home.

Alex and his mother lived at Josef's house. Ari did not know why exactly, she only knew that she worked for him. It did not take long to get there and soon they were heading into the massive home theatre.

They decided to start the movie right away because it was a school night and both had homework. Alex popped in the movie , but would not let her see the case. She knew Alex well, and knew that the movie would not want to be one she would pick, that is why he is so secretive. She just didn't know how bad it would actually be.

The movie started, and it was soon apparent it was _Dracula_ she held her tongue and watched, forcing herself to stay calm and control the memories bubbling at the surface. In the movie he uttered the famous line ""Listen to them—children of the night. What—music—they make!" and that was the cracking point for Ari.

Memories broke through, Jason had been listening to music that night, she could her it from her room. But then;

_Suddenly she heard a loud crash and a blood curdling scream. Her eyes snapped open, now filling to the brim with fear and tears. Her door busted open and her older brother ran in, he dragged her out of her warm cozy bed and shoved her in the closet._

_Suddenly , all of the crashes from downstairs ceased and it was ghostly quiet. Her little heart started to pound_, no noise was good right? that meant they got him_ she hoped. She just knew any minute her brother would be up to get her. The stairs started to creak. She knew that meant someone was coming up stairs. _

_She backed as far back into the corner as she could. Accidentally in her haste she cut her hand on a toy and gasped in pain. The attacker that was looking in on her changed right before her eyes. His eyes whitened over until the irises were nothing but black specks and he grew long fangs. He wrenched open the closet door and roughly grabbed her arm. She squirmed, trying to break free, but he wouldn't let go._

Back in the present, Ari started screaming and sobbing. her chest heaving she clung tightly to Alex, who awkwardly clung to her too. He did not know exactly what to do. Never before did he have to deal with a nervous breakdown, and this one seemed serious.

What should he do? Leave her when she was so dangerous to herself, or stay? He knew he needed to get an adult, and fast. Luckily, Mick and Josef came in to the room. Huh, he hadn't known Mick was here. Alex supposed he was spying on them, the traditional big brother worried about his little sister on a date.

"what happened?" Mick asked worried. He knelt down to the couch Alex was holding Ari on.

" I – I we were watching a movie, I – I knew it would probably scare her, but not this much."

" What movie?" Mick asked Alex.

" ummm…"

" over here Mick" said Josef who had the empty DVD case. He tossed it to Mick who caught it with ease, not even looking.

" you have got to be kidding me Alex, _Dracula_? How could you not know this would scare her?" Mick asked as he glanced at the DVD case.

"ok, you caught me red handed, I just wanted to her to figure it out. I was told not to tell her anything, I promised I wouldn't but I couldn't help but hate keeping secrets from her." Alex explained, guilt coloring his face.

Ari, had been listening to this whole conversation, she calmed herself down and pulled herself a way from Alex. Curiosity that she never had before replaced the rotten memories that threatened to drag her to insanity.

" you wanted me to figure what out?" she asked, it was only after that she remembered he was bound to his promise not to tell. But Ari was intelligent, and had an inkling of what the secret was. The movie and memories were to large of a clue to ignore. She just had to be one hundred percent positive.

" I need some one to tell me the truth, that vampires are make believe."

"which do you want the truth or the other one Pig-tails?" Josef asked.

"shouldn't they go hand in hand?" Ari asked.

" Go on Mick, you tell her. I am the one who said she should have known years ago, but no you have to keep her sheltered and in the dark." Josef said turning to Mick. Mick looked very uncomfortable but proceeded to speak anyway.

" No Ari, Vampires are as real as your teachers at school" he said quietly. Ari still refused to believe this.

" no way! If they were real, I probably would have met one by now, and I doubt I have ever met a vampire." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Josef laughed out loud. " yeah you have! What do you think massacred your family? Why am I so pale? Why does Mick work at night? Why have we _stayed the same_?"

" um, I, ummm…." Ari said as she tried to come up plausible excuses, but none came to mind.

This was way to much for her, she got a massive headache and then fainted into Alex's arms. He looked shocked and then moaned " oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt her"

Josef shook his head, "that's ok kid, she will wake up soon" and with that proceeded to walk out the door. This left Mick, Alex, and Ari all alone…

**A/N wow, long chapter! Any way, thanks for reading. Next chapter starts on the pilot episode and introduces Beth. Please review if you have time. Thanks! Have a great week!**


	3. Waking up

Ari's eyes snapped opened not too long after. She tried to sit up and Alex released her from his arms.

"I just had the most ridiculous dream!" she stated turning around to face him, completely not noticing Mick and joseph. Alex just gave her a guilty half smile.

"Really?" he asked. Maybe, if she thought it only a dream, it wouldn't matter. It would be as if the recent revelations and truths never happened. He remembered the events of the recent past. Had he realized she would take it this bad, never would he have told her. She gave him a funny look before swatting him on the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" he questioned while rubbing his cheek. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him, shaking her head, she spoke.

"You showed me that stupid Dracula movie! I must have fallen asleep and had a nightmare!" she explained. _Don't ask her about the nightmare, don't give her any indication it's real. You might just be able to keep her from emotional harm._ Alex thought as he listened to her, and nodded.

"What did you dream?" he asked her, mentally cursing as he did so. His curiosity kept him from avoiding the subject, and he absolutely hated himself for it. Especially since he was positive he already knew the answer.

"I" she paused briefly, and shuddered. Then, taking a deep breath she continued "I dreamed that I learned that Mick and Josef were vampires. We watched the movie, I freaked out, and they came in to see what was wrong. Then I asked them to tell me the movie wasn't real. Josef pretty much told me that vampires were real. Even worse, he admitted that he and Mick were vampires!" she explained in a rush.

"Uh-huh" Was all that Alex could reply. A well placed deliberate cough sounded from across the room. Ari jumped startled. She turned to the source of the sound, and saw mick and Josef standing in the corner. Alex watched her, trying to spot early warning signs of a disaster on her face.

He watched, helplessly, as comprehension dawned upon her. She uttered one simple word. "Shit". It wasn't loud, or obnoxious, or even assertive. It simply hung in the air. Suddenly she picked her helmet, jacket, and back pack. She turned around to face everyone in the room. A wild look appeared in her eyes, and suddenly, she bolted. Out the door of the home theatre, up the stairs and out into the main foyer of the mansion she raced, not stopping until she made it outside. She never slowed until she made it to her bike.

Her helmet became her shield. It allowed her to keep to herself. The outside world could not see her face, and read her emotions; she could barely see the outside world. She hopped on her bike and started it frantically. She wanted away, away from this haunted mansion. As she sped down the drive to the main road, conventional speed signs had no meaning to her. All she wanted was speed, speed to help her cope, to escape.

"I'm going after her!" Alex stated, he got up off the couch, and grabbed his own coat.

"No!" Mick and Josef yelled simultaneously.

"Why not?!" Alex asked defensively, coat successfully on, he turned to begin searching around the room for his car keys. "She can't be off all alone! You guys off all people should know this city is not even close to being safe!" he explained. His sounded quite frustrated, where the hell where those care keys! He wouldn't take no for an answer, or listen to either of the vampires standing before him. A slight jingling sound did catch his attention however. Josef had his keys.

"Give me back my keys!" Alex demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Not a chance! My car, remember? You haven't earned it yet!" Josef reminded him. Alex just rolled his eyes. "Besides, you just shattered her thin little reality, it doesn't matter that you guys are practically jointed at the hip, do you really think she will actually listen to you right now?" he continued. As realization dawned upon him, Alex's shoulders sunk, and his face became crestfallen.

"No, I guess not" he stated, sighing.

"Right, that is why I'm going!" Mick stated, Josef just laughed.

"Mick, are you hearing yourself right now? We are the very things she is running from! She won't want to see you, or me, until she is ready to face what has bubbling inside of her for thirteen years." Josef explained. He reached over and hit Mick on the shoulder.

"Then what are we supposed to do? We have no idea where she went, we can't send a vampire after her, and she can't be out on her own!" mick elucidated.

"Send Beth to find her! You know that girl treats Beth like the older sister she never had!" Josef suggested, Mick nodded, that sounded like a decent suggestion to him. He pulled out his cellphone, and pulled up Beth's number. She answered quickly.

"Hey Beth, I was wondering if you could possibly do me a huge favor" Mick stated.

"_Sure, what's up?"_ Beth answered.

"Well, I had bit of a difficult situation, it involved Ari" he announced guilty.

"_Oh, wow! What Happened_?" she wondered aloud.

"Ah, well, she ah…learned some stuff…then proceeded to run away. I don't really think that it would be best for her sanity if I were to go talk to her right now" Mick answered, he nervously scratched at the back of his head. A pause came from Beth, before she laughed.

"_Yeah, I will go after her. Any help you can give me? That bike of hers could get her pretty far"_ she asked.

"Yeah, I will get Logan to trace her cell, that way you can track her" he explained, relief in his voice.

"_Great thanks! I'll leave now and get started_" she told him.

"Thanks Beth!" he said, before hanging up. Josef and Alex looked at him expectantly. No doubt Josef could hear their conversation just fine, but Alex lacked vampire hearing, and so he was out of the loop. "Beth is going after her, I got to get Logan to trace her phone though" mick stated. Both nodded. /mick then mad his phone call to Logan, and got everything set up for Beth to peruse Ari.

She had no idea where she was going, she didn't care. She barely noticed the route. Through crowded city streets she sped, barely catching any lights, but she was too preoccupied to notice her luck. Soon, the city thinned, and she knew she was way outside of Las Angeles; she must have been riding for a few hours. The coast was on the left, and the moon shone off the water. Her bike began to sputter, and she looked down at her fuel indicator. She had no fuel.

"Great!" she exclaimed sarcastically, the bike slowed to a stop. No cars were around her, so she simply hopped off and started walking. She meant to only go to the shoulder, but instead she kept walking. There was a little path down to the beach. The walked to the edge of the dry sand close to the surf and sat down, letting the tranquil roar of the waves wash over her, and calm her raging thoughts.

She had a lot to think about. Those crazy memories and the trauma that she felt since she was a child were coming back to her. As much of a headache this all was, she allowed herself to remember the truth. The scary dreams she had around Halloween time were in fact real memories. Her parents had been murdered, Mick had saved her. This much she knew. Oh! How she wished she had someone to talk to! She buried her head in her hands, and started to cry. She felt safe here on the beach, no one to hear her, to see her, to hurt her.

Beth hurried down the road. After a tiny bit of remote over the phone toying, her phone had become a tracking device to find Ari. This had made her task all too easy, as not long after they worked out how to find her, her signal stopped on a beach north of the city. Finally coming to her destination, Beth pulled off onto the shoulder. She spotted the same path that Ari had taken and followed it. In the distance, Beth noted a figure and a bike, outlined by moonlight. Carefully she approached her.

"Hey" Beth stated. When Ari didn't respond, Beth simply sat down in the soft sand beside her. They both sat there for a while silent. Then, gradually, Ari spoke up.

"Did you know?" she asked Beth. Three words. three simple words, but in fact; a complicated test. Beth didn't hesitate in answering though.

"Yes, for a few months now. He was waiting to discuss it with you when you were ready. It actually worried him how you suppressed it all." She explained, answering the unasked next question. They were both silent for a few minutes more, just gazing at the moon. It was too bright that night to see any stars. Ari sighed.

"I have known for a while, deep down, but every time I would begin to wonder, or question any part of my life, I would bury it, shoot the thought out of my head" she carefully revealed. She waited for Beth to comment, and when she didn't, Ari took that as permission to continue.

"I noticed that Mick would stay up all night, never have we had a family meal. Actually, I have never even seen him eat at all! There were so many things that would go on at home! I should have noticed! I did notice! So badly though, did I want everything to be ok, to be normal, that I pushed it aside. Ignorance is bliss" she stated turning to look at Beth, and plastering a sad smile on her face.

"Let me ask you this" Beth began, she shifted in the sand so she was facing Ari. "Has anyone, Mick, Josef, Logan, Guillermo, anybody done anything that could possibly be seen as harmful to you?" she asked. Ari's eyes widened.

"You mean to tell me Logan and Guillermo are vampires too?!" she gasped. "I mean, Guillermo works in a morgue, so that doesn't really surprise me I guess. But Logan? He is such a nerd! That guy couldn't hurt anybody beyond _World of Warcraft_!" she pointed out. Beth smiled.

"See my point?" she asked. Ari nodded.

"I suppose so" she answered. They both sat in comfortable silence for a moment, relaxing in the cool sand.

"You know, you can't stay on the beach forever. One of these days, you are going to have to talk to Mick" Beth pointed out. Ari was silent. "If it really still scares you, you can sleep on my couch, I will tell Mick to stay away for a few days, so you have some time to think. Or, I can take you back to Josef's, or I can take you home". Beth laid down the law. "Make your choice, and no, you cannot just stay on the beach forever" she continued. Ari groaned and Beth rolled her eyes.

"As tempting as all those wonderful choices sound, you are completely right. Mick won't hurt me, and I am exhausted! I have school tomorrow, and want to crash and sleep." Ari chose her path. Beth nodded and got up, brushing the sand off her as she did so. She reached down to help Ari, who gratefully accepted the help. Once fully standing, Ari cleaned the sand off herself.

"Alright, so, knowing that you took your bike, I borrowed one of Josef's many vehicles, a pick-up truck. If we work together, we should be able to lift it into the back" Beth told her, as they hiked back through the thick sand.

Upon making it back to the shoulder of the road, the motorcycle was hoisted – not without difficulty—into the back of the pickup. Happy with their handiwork, both women climbed into the cab, and turned onto the road, heading back to the Sparkling City of Angles.

**A/N *holds up laptop as shield against angry readers* Hello? Remember me? Heheh, um I just realized that it has been three years since I last updated this story! It isn't so much that I forgot about it, more so, well that time flies in college. Especially when somebody dancing in a Starbucks under your University knocks your laptop off a table frying the hard drive and destroying all files on it in, including your novel, and faniction you are working on. Anyway, after a little refining of my original plan for this story, I have been working on finishing it. A few changes will occur. First off, this will kind of be my version of an AU second season. AU in that, obviously Ari only exists in my story, and not in any cannon Moonlight stuff. Also, that being said, this takes place now in the end of 2008. So instead of rewriting everything I am simply letting you know the date changes here. The beginning takes place in 1995, not 1994, and Ari was born in 1991 not 1990. Anyway, this is finals week for me, so I probably won't be able to update for another two weeks or so. **

**To new readers, Thanks for giving this story a try! To old readers, thanks for sticking with the story even when it was abandoned for a few years!**

**~Crystal Skywalker**


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